Black metal as art

Here is an article about the artist I think the way it describes him his beliefs styles etc basically sum up black metal e.g. his love of the pagan in nature, the darkness in his paintings, the passion involved, the mysteriousness, etc..

Romantic artist named Caspar David Friedrich painted this, I think it very much fits the style of black meta although possibly second two are not really dark enough for black metall, also read this quotation about the artist:

Though snow was first popular in European landscapes with those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from the Lowlands, Friedrich saw it in a new light, close to silent death or miraculous rebirth - never as a rococo confectioner's seasonal sugaring.

The work of Gustave Doré is also wonderful and highly romantic. Many of his illustrations are of Romantic works and fairy/folk tales. He has done some of the best illustrations I have ever seen and I can't praise his work enough; it's absolutly some of my favorite. In fact his work has been used on the cover of a few black metal albums, most notably Emperor's EP.

(His use of shading, lighting, and textures is masterful and no less than amazing. Take a look again at the texture of the water in the first picture if there are any doubts. Also note how wonderfully done the lighting and shading is thoughout the whole drawing. Truly breath taking as far as I'm concerned and no vibrancy or detail is lost just because it's a black and white illustration [like most of his work for literature which I have seen])

Actually I've always pondered about more surrealist works being used in Death/Black Metal, and stuff from Bosch, Bruegel, and Munch as well. Some of Bosch's and Bruegel's works are just horrific in a sense, and I always thought the passion apparent in Munch's work would compliment Black Metal. Also surrealist art to me goes along with the other worldliness you get sometimes from Black Metal, or extreme/strange Death Metal.

Actually I've always pondered about more surrealist works being used in Death/Black Metal, and stuff from Bosch, Bruegel, and Munch as well. Some of Bosch's and Bruegel's works are just horrific in a sense, and I always thought the passion apparent in Munch's work would compliment Black Metal. Also surrealist art to me goes along with the other worldliness you get sometimes from Black Metal, or extreme/strange Death Metal.

Not when it comes to At The Gates. Terminal Spirit Disease posseses the most ugly cover I've ever encountered in metal.